The purpose of this project is to explore the great variety and abundance of the marine environment for molecular models of neurobiology. In particular it was designed to investigate species or phenomenon which display an amplification or simplification of human physiological metabolism. The conversion of the polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) into prostaglandin PGF (4-alpha) in the rainbow trout gill was the focus of our current marine studies. Planned explorations of mammalian tissues for this novel prostaglandin and enzymatic system necessitate the purification of the trout gill product in order to characterize chromatographic separation procedures. Success was achieved in producing 22:6 fatty acid metabolites in vitro with the trout gill preparation and in their separation by both TLC and HPLC techniques. Indomethacin, aspirin and boiled controls indicated that the conversions were enzymatic. Preliminary studies indicate that some of these metabolic products are also found in the mammalian CNS and in brain cell cultures.